National Assembly approves controversial Cyber Crime Bill

The controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 has been approved in the National Assembly.

The bill must be approved by Senate before it can be signed into law, reports Dawn.

The bill, which was first approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology in April last year, has been criticised by the IT industry and civil society for curbing human rights and giving abusive powers to the law enforcement agencies.

The cyber crime bill was forcefully cleared by the standing committee before being forwarded to the National Assembly for final approval without showing the members the copy of the bill.

The proposed bill criminalises activities such as sending text messages without the receiver's consent or criticising the government's actions on the social media with fines and long-term imprisonment.

Industry representatives have argued that the bill would harm business as well.